I can’t tell you why, but when I was 18, I decided I wanted to be the kind of guy who wore a Kangol hat.
I wore it for a few months, very much as an experiment. I was a kid trying to figure who I was and how to build a sense of style that felt true to me.
It’s been almost 20 years, so I can say, with absolute confidence now: I was definitely not a Kangol hat kind of guy. But there’s still a little bit of that sense of experimentation in everything I do.
I try on new hats, more figuratively than literally, all the time. What would it look like for me to start a business? To move to a new city? To become a dad?
Lots of what I try to do every year is test out new stuff and see how it feels. Is this for me? Does it feel true to who I am?
I keep trying on new hats, always with the hope that I might find something great. Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, I end up looking back with embarrassment on the things I’ve tried.
You just have to keep trying anyway.
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Yeah, that’s me at 18 in a backwards Kangol hat. You live, you learn.